Islamic charity case on hold

Judge says she won't take action on case for 10 days

Just days after throwing out perjury charges against a Chicago-area Islamic charity and its leader, a federal judge on Monday agreed to hold off for 10 days on taking further action in the case.

It wasn't clear, though, if U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall still retains control over the case after dismissing the two counts against Palos Hills-based Benevolence International Foundation and its executive director, Enaam Arnaout.

Within hours after Gottschall dismissed the perjury counts Friday, prosecutors quickly filed new charges to continue to hold Arnaout in custody in a federal jail in the Loop. With the new charges, a new judge could be assigned to the case.

In the new criminal complaint made public Monday, prosecutors charged Benevolence and Arnaout with one count each of making false statements and perjury under a different statute--but not with obstruction of justice as an office spokesman said Friday.

However, the underlying allegations against Arnaout and Benevolence in the new charges are nearly identical to the first criminal complaint filed against them in April.

In Gottschall's courtroom Monday, Arnaout's lawyer, Joseph J. Duffy, asked the judge to hold off for 10 days to give the lawyers a chance at "possibly resolving this matter."

But U.S. Atty. Patrick J. Fitzgerald, who is personally prosecuting the case, told Gottschall he doesn't think she still has jurisdiction over the case.

Duffy mentioned the possibility that he will ask an executive committee of federal judges to let Gottschall preside over the new charges on the grounds the cases are closely related.

Arnaout is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Wednesday on the new charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ian Levin.

Separately, another federal judge in Chicago has permitted another local Islamic charity to proceed with a lawsuit accusing six news organizations of libel.

Global Relief Foundation of Bridgeview filed the suit in November, after news accounts described the group as being under investigation for terrorist connections. A month later the government froze Global Relief's assets, saying the charity was being probed for alleged ties to Osama bin Laden.

Last week U.S. District Judge David Coar rejected efforts by the news organizations, including ABC News, The New York Times and the Associated Press, to have the suit dismissed. Without commenting on the merits of the case, Coar ruled that the defendants haven't proved that their news reports were true.